The Power Of Stories To Bring Hope and Healing To Today's Hurting Women

A Devotional for a Tea Party

Over the weekend I was invited to speak to a group of wiggly, giggly girls, ages 6 to 14 at a sleepover! Yep! There were 80 girls and leaders there from several churches having the time of their lives with “high tea, ” minute-to-win-it games, a craft, movies and just plain fun.

Our devotional followed a short age-appropriate video clip of the work being done by a missionary in Belgium who set up a “tea room” for prostitutes and girls involved in the sex trafficking industry. through her ministry, the girls learn about Jesus in a safe environment and the are then directed to other services including medical resources and safe houses.

Our devotional time didn’t get started until:00 PM – so I was concerned that they may be running on adrenalin, but the gals were so well behaved!

Here are the devotional thoughts I shared with them:

Having Tea with Jesus (Pictures will be posted shortly)
Purpose: Giving a picture of our relationship with Jesus through various tea cup and mug illustrations.

Introduction – share an invitation to have tea with Jesus. (I made out an actual invitation with a tea cup on the front and made a big show of opening and reading it. The invitation instructed me to bring my own mug so I went rooting through my bag to find the perfect mug to take along, pulling out a new mug or tea cup for each point.)

1. A miniature china tea set – Too small to drink out of, but a good reminder of two sisters in the Bible who had “tea” with Jesus. I told the story of Mary and Martha. The ornate miniature tea set reminds me of Martha – all fussy and wanting things to be just perfect. You may also use a big mug for Mary since she filled up her cup and sat to listen to Jesus.The point of this mug and the small tea set is that it is important to spend time in His presence, not worrying about everything else around us. We must learn to listen to what He says.

2. A miniature mug with my name on it (Any mug with your name on it will do.) This mug reminds me of 2 things – the first is that Jesus knows my name. That means He loves me and wants to spend time with me, He hears my prayers and knows everything about me. This makes for a great relationship.

But my little mug also reminds me that I need to spend time talking to Him about other things than just what I want. Time with Jesus is not just about ME or gimme, gimme praying. I can talk to him about how much I love Him, I can listen to Him and I can talk about the things we can do together as well as praying about things for other people. All are important.

3. A pretty tea cup that is dirty inside. This tea cup looks pretty, but it isn’t useable. It reminds me that I was once filled with sin until Jesus came in and cleaned up my heart. Sometimes I still sin and need to ask for forgiveness for my attitudes and actions.

4. Another pretty china cup with a crack in it. – Talk about those who need Jesus – they are precious to Him, but often their hearts are “broken” because of the hurts or pain inflicted on them by another person (abuse, trafficking – our girls mission project was for a missionary who helped trafficking victims). I shared how this isn’t just about girls over seas, but many around us are hurting and broken hearted too. Jesus is the one who comes in and can fix the broken hearts. Depending on the age of the audience, you may go into more detail or explanation about sexual abuse, prostitution or trafficking. Remember to keep it age appropriate)

5. A magic mug. I have 2 Kinkaid mugs with cottages painted on them. There are dark shadows over each window and door. But when hot water is poured into the mug, the lights come on in the windows. I used this mug to illustrate what happens when Christ comes into our hearts – He fills us up with His love, warmth, comfort and His presence so we become clean, happy and new inside – our lives become warm and inviting to others as well so we can tell them about Jesus.

Then we had the altar call.

What a precious time as many girls raised their hands and prayed the salvation prayer with me! Feel free to use this devotional idea, substituting your own mugs for a visual. The mugs kept the girls’ interest. and afterward they wanted to come up and see them – their favorites were the tiny mug with my name on it and the magic mugs!

One Response

Hello Bonnie;
It has been a long time since I have talked with you or even read something of yours.
I am so delighted to have read your experience with 80 GM girls. Your devotional was absolutly wonderful, and can be used at any rally with the GM girls. I am asking for your permission to use it at one of my rallies I have planned this spring?
Congratulations on your new book, it looks to be very riveting.
In His Service

Daughters of Hope and Healing

Join the Fight Against Human Trafficking

Bonnie donates a portion of the profits from each copy sold to organizations that work with trafficking victims. Daughter of Scarlet is available through Amazon.com, B&N.com and all major online book distributors. For a signed copy, visit www.bonniewinters.com to order your copy today!